Action Alert! Comment on NorthWestern Energy’s Long-term Planning

NorthWestern’s new 20‑year plan is on the table right now, and this is our chance to tell NWE what kind of energy future we want for Montana. If we don’t speak up, they’ll move ahead with the most expensive, most polluting options while our bills and health pay the price.

Montanans are showing up for clean, affordable energy and you can too! 

We wanted to thank the hundreds of people that have already shown up to NorthWestern Energy's Integrated Resource Plan meetings in Great Falls, Missoula, Helena, and Bozeman!

Speaking at public meetings and submitting public comments creates a critical record - a record that says, this is not the future Montana families want. A record that creates grounds for future lawsuits. This is a record that lets the utility know it is going in the wrong direction. 

If we don’t speak up, they’ll move ahead with the most expensive, most polluting options while our bills and health pay the price.

How to Take Action: 

Submit an email comment to irp@northwestern.com before March 12th, 2026.

Potential Talking Points About the Current IRP

The plan largely ignores climate change

• Climate change is barely addressed in the IRP and is not treated as a core planning priority.

• None of the proposed scenarios put NorthWestern Energy on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050.

  • This ignores Montana’s constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, which courts have affirmed includes a stable climate system.

Continued reliance on coal and gas

• It expands coal and gas, increasing airborne lead, mercury, arsenic, and greenhouse gases.

  • Coal and gas pollution contributes to serious health risks, including asthma, heart disease, and exposure to toxic pollutants like mercury, arsenic, and lead.

• It assumes ongoing operation of the Colstrip coal plant without adequately addressing health impacts on nearby communities.

• The plan ignores clean air, water, and the future Montanans want for their kids.

  Profit-driven incentive

• Montana’s utility payment system guarantees NorthWestern Energy (NWE) higher profits when they build more expensive infrastructure—10% profit on project costs. A $200 million plant nets them $20 million; an $800 million plant means $80 million in profit—paid for by ratepayers.

• NWE’s new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) conveniently concludes that the best options are the most costly—nuclear, gas, and coal—because those are the most profitable to them, not to Montanans.

• In the last two IRPs, NWE promised cheaper bills through more coal and gas. The opposite happened: energy bills rose.

  Clean energy options are undervalued and unnecessarily limited

• Meanwhile, the rest of the world is rapidly building renewables—wind, solar, and storage—outpacing fossil fuel expansion by 9 to 1 because they are reliable and cheaper.

• The IRP uses assumptions that overestimate the cost of renewables and limit how much battery storage can be built.

  Transparency and public participation need improvement

  • The IRP relies on complex assumptions that are difficult for the public to access or evaluate.

  • There is limited public analysis of alternatives, including participation in regional energy markets.

  • Families deserve a clearer, more transparent process for decisions that affect their health and finances.
    

What Montana families want instead

• Affordable, reliable electricity

• Clean air and water for our kids

• Serious investment in wind, solar, storage, and efficiency

• Energy planning that aligns with Montana’s Constitution and a livable future